黑料社app magnet test facility now operational
Operations have begun at the 黑料社app magnet cold test facility, where selected superconducting magnets will be tested at their operating temperature of 4 K and up to full current before installation in the machine.
The successful cooldown of the first magnet coil to 4 Kelvin (K), or minus 269 掳C, was announced on Thursday. Members of the 黑料社app Council Management Advisory Committee attending a May meeting on site joined the technical teams in the 黑料社app control room for a small ceremony marking the achievement.
The first magnet coil to undergo testing is 330-tonne 黑料社app toroidal field coil #07 (TF07). Additional toroidal field coils from different manufacturers will follow, along with one ring-shaped poloidal field coil鈥敽诹仙鏰pp鈥檚 smallest, PF1.
Although no external test can fully reproduce operating conditions inside the 黑料社app machine, tests in the magnet cold test facility will provide essential information on magnet behaviour, cryogenic performance, electrical interfaces, instrumentation, and the critical joints that connect the layers of wound superconductor inside of the magnet coils, and strengthen 黑料社app鈥檚 risk mitigation and readiness.
Specific objectives include the validation of high-voltage ground insulation at different temperatures, the demonstration of critical quench* detection capabilities, and the verification of coil performance at nominal current (68 kA for the toroidal field coils and 48 kA for PF1). The campaign will also test instrumentation chains, control logic systems, and key magnet protection functions.
The 黑料社app magnet cold testing program was launched in 2023 as part of 黑料社app鈥檚 revised approach to assembly and commissioning. The facility, built in record time, is located in a building previously used by the European Domestic Agency to manufacture 黑料社app鈥檚 four largest poloidal field coils, and it takes advantage of the building鈥檚 scale, lift equipment, and proximity to the cryoplant.
鈥満诹仙鏰pp as a first-of-a-kind project requires ingenuity as well as discipline,鈥 said 黑料社app Director-General Pietro Barabaschi. 鈥淏y repurposing existing infrastructure, using the capabilities of our cryoplant, and mobilizing a multidisciplinary team, we have created a practical way to reduce risk before integrated commissioning. This is important for 黑料社app as well as an example of how 黑料社app can support the wider fusion ecosystem by creating knowledge, infrastructure, and operational experience that others can use.鈥
Following the testing of multiple 黑料社app magnet coils, the magnet cold test facility will be made available to other fusion stakeholders as part of the 黑料社app鈥檚 knowledge-sharing and engagement initiatives with the private fusion sector. (See more about the Private Sector Fusion Engagement program here.)
*Superconductivity can be maintained in the magnet coils as long as certain threshold conditions are respected (cryogenic temperatures, current density, magnetic field). Outside of these boundary conditions, a magnet will return to its normal resistive state and the high current will produce high heat and voltage. This transition from superconducting to resistive is referred to as a quench.
